Today we discussed beat. I know nothing about beat and don’t pretend to be able to recognize it in songs I hear.

But I do know Disney movies, and I’m gonna focus on that. Professor O’Malley repeated referred to Mowgli from The Jungle Book as white, even a dark white. I’ve never before heard that interpretation (at least for the 1967 version, which is the clip we watched). Mowgli looks Indian and is meant to be Indian. At the end of the movie he’s entranced by an Indian girl and decides to follow her. in the 2003 sequel Mowgli is presented as a member of the local Indian community. He’s not white. Now upon rewatching I can definitely sense the black cultural influence on King Louie and the way the monkeys dance (and even scat sing!). But having an orangutan mimicking a stereotypical black performer loses its racial edge when it’s in front of a brown human lead.

Dumbo (1941) was of course mentioned, and that’s a must trickier situation. Obviously the Crows are impersonating a black minstrel show. But speaking as a white kid from central Pennsylvania, I thought they were one of the best parts of the movie. They were funny and likable. Of course I’m sure minstrel shows were meant to be entertaining as well.

I was very surprised Peter Pan (1953) wasn’t mentioned. There’s the scene with very stereotypical American Indians literally singing a song entitled “What Makes the Red Man Red.” That scene is why as a kid the Disney channel never showed the original but would constantly play the very inferior sequel, Return to Neverland (2002).

We don’t even have to mention Song of the South (1946).

And I’ll cap this off just by saying I enjoyed a lot of the swing and go go music that was played in class. Very listenable.